The career cost nobody budgets for, and the companies finally pricing it in
One in three women in management and executive roles has considered leaving her job because of menopause symptoms. That is 34% in a 2025 survey by WebMD Health Services, and it is not a number most companies have on any spreadsheet.
Why it should surprise you
Menopause typically arrives between 45 and 55, which is exactly when most women who reach senior leadership reach it. The years a company gets the most from a woman executive are the years she is most likely to be managing a hot flash in a board meeting, three hours of sleep before an 8 a.m. review, and a word that will not come in the middle of a sentence.
The same survey found that 45% of women leaders hide their symptoms at work. Deloitte's 2025 Women @ Work survey found 36% of women with symptoms are working through high levels of pain. Searches for "perimenopause" are up about 740%, according to the trend tracker Exploding Topics. The interest is loud. The policies are mostly silent.
Where the numbers come from
WebMD Health Services surveyed working women in 2025 on menopause support and its effect on business. Deloitte's survey covered 7,500 women in 15 countries. Neither is a census, and both rely on what women say. The direction is consistent across both, and it points one way: women at the top are leaving, or thinking about it, for a reason they have been taught not to mention.
What it looks like on a Tuesday
Picture a chief operating officer, 51, preparing the quarterly review. She slept from 1 to 4. She has moved the thermostat twice and will move it again. In the meeting, she reaches for the word "amortization" and finds nothing, for four full seconds, in front of the CFO. Nobody says anything. She spends the rest of the day wondering whether they noticed, and the rest of the quarter wondering whether she is still good at this.
She is still good at this. She is also, statistically, one of the third who have thought about leaving.
What it means for you
If you are managing symptoms, the costliest move is the silent one. The second costliest is the one that over-discloses to someone who did not need to know. The middle path is specific, bounded and unapologetic.
What to ask for
Ask for flexibility on early meetings. "I'm managing a health matter and need to avoid 8 a.m. starts for a few months." No diagnosis is required, and a manager who pushes for one has told you something.
Ask for temperature control, a private line to HR, and a benefits review that names menopause the way it names maternity. If you are the executive who sets policy, do this before anyone asks; replacing a senior leader costs far more than a fan and a paragraph in the handbook.
Find the women who are a few years ahead of you. They know which doctor to see, which symptom to treat first, and which boss to tell. That network is why organizations like this one exist.
What would it take for you to say the word out loud at work?